Bloods: Repository Records #101, which incorrectly stated that there are only Four Hundred vampires in the world. This is wrong and a clerical mistake on the part of overworked
Repository scribes.
Four Hundred Ball: Known as the Patrician Ball in the nineteenth century: the vampire-only, multimillion-dollar party of the year. A tradition that reaches back centuries, where new
Committee members are presented to Blue Blood society. An event that celebrates status, beauty, power, money, and blood
—Blue Blood.
Frango: A counterspell that breaks a ward on a place
Full Consumption: When a human or vampire is drained of all of his or her blood through the Sacred Kiss. To do this to a human is the biggest taboo of the Code of the Vampires; to do it to another vampire is Abomination.
The Gates of Hell: The seven gates forged by the Blue Blood
Order of the Seven to secure the Paths of the Dead. They are meant to keep Lucifer and the Silver Blood demons imprisoned in the underworld. Their physical manifestation in the glom appears to be twelve feet wide and forged into the crust of the earth, but the true barrier is the spirit and protection of Michael.
The Glom: The vampires use the word “glom” to describe two things: a direct line of consciousness that can be used for vampires to commune with one another, or to control the minds of other humans or vampires. It also describes the twilight netherworld that vampires can access—an alternative plane in the universe.
There are five factors to the glom: 1) Telepathy, the ability to read minds, 2) Suggestion, the ability to plant a seed of an idea in another mind (it must be done subtly, so the other believes it’s his or her own), 3) Compulsion, the ability to issue a direct order to another’s mind, 4) Suppression, the ability to overcome the will of another, and 5) Consummo Alienari, the little-known fifth factor, allows complete control over another’s mind, but is highly dangerous.
Hibernation: A prolonged sleep that vampires enter at the end of a cycle, when they are weary of immortality
Human Familiar: These are the “lovers, friends, and vessels” on whom vampires feed and rely. According to the Code of the
Vampires, familiars are never to be abused, and under no circumstances fully drained; they are to be treated with affection and care for the service they provide, as once taken as a familiar, the human will always feel a special bond with the vampire.
Illuminata: The vampire gift of glowing in the dark, which makes them recognizable to one another
Incantation Demonata: The spell to call a Silver Blood
Infractio: “A breaking.” Lawrence uses it to describe what he fears has happened in Corcovado.
Inquisitor: The official prosecutor in a Committee investigation
Intersection: A part of the glom where Silver Bloods can enter but never leave. A limbo between worlds, hidden in the tunnels of Lutetia.
Lucifer’s Bane (a.k.a. the Rose of Lucifer): A giant emerald necklace that Forsyth Llewellyn gave to Bliss. It is supposedly made of a stone that fell from Lucifer’s crown when he fell from
Heaven. Also known as the Holy Grail, Bliss wore it continually until the day of Mimi’s bonding ceremony to Jack, when she ripped it off, rejecting any more association with her father.
Lutetia: The ancient Gallic city under what is present-day Paris, it was built by Blue Blood Romans as a massive underground network of tunnels. It is also the location of one of the seven
Paths of the Dead and a Gate of Hell. The tunnels are like a maze, enchanted against the animadverto, where a vampire could be lost forever. The center is under the Eiffel Tower, where all tunnels eventually lead. There are seven corridors radiating from the center, representing the seven ruling houses of the
Blue Bloods. When Gemellus moved the Gate of Time, he left an intersection there.
Mark of Lucifer: A five-pointed star on the neck of a vampire who has been Corrupted by a Silver Blood. It looks like a burn or a cattle brand.
Mark of the Archangel: A mark on the wrist of the Uncorrupted archangels, in the shape of a sword piercing clouds, identifying the archangels as children of the Light. It cannot be duplicated or falsified.
Materia Acerbus (Dark Matter): That from which the Silver
Bloods come. The opposite of the White. Also the name of a book of black spells in the Repository.
Modo Caecus: A blinding spell that makes humans forget what they’ve seen
Mutatio: The vampire ability to change into the elements of fire, water, or air, including smoke and fog
Mutatus: The shape a vampire shifts into
“Nexi Infideles”: “Death to the traitors!” A Blue Blood war cry
Obsido: An obstruction brought about as a ward
Occludo: Closing your mind to external influence in order to resist the glom
The Order of the Seven: The seven guardians of the Gates of
Hell, chosen during the Crisis in Rome and composed of the seven original ruling Blue Blood families. The gatekeepers scattered far and wide and are now unknown to one another and the Conclave leadership for their own protection.
Palaver: A conversation between those of different status: angel vs. demon. Bliss demands a palaver of the demon in her dreams.
Passive State: The resting state vampires enter between cycles. Also called Evolution.
Paths of the Dead: The only remaining passageways between
Earth and the underworld, they are now secured by the Gates of
Hell, forged by the Blue Bloods at Michael’s command after the battle in Rome. In the glom they look like paths of molten lava, hissing with steam.
“Phoebus ostend praeeo”: “The sun shall show you the way.”
It is the cryptic message Jordan leaves for the Venators searching for her.
“Propon familiar”: “Tell your friends.” The Compulsion Mimi uses to get the little slum girl in Rio to tell the Venators of
Jordan’s whereabouts.
Quadrille: An old-fashioned figure dance at the Four Hundred
Ball lead by the Committee members being presented; the teens in the foremost quadrille are chosen because of their family’s hierarchy in the Committee.
Regenerative Memory Syndrome: The process during a vampire’s Transformation when a Blue Blood’s memories of past cycles return; the young vampires feel as if they are actually experiencing the memory again.
Regent: The second-highest ranking member of the Conclave.